Columnists
Conservatives gave women the vote – but you won’t be reminded of this
A hundred years ago on Tuesday, King George V assented to the Representation of the People Act. Women got the…
I wanted Ted Cruz to be President, but Donald Trump is working
In London last week I had the opportunity to talk about President Donald Trump with several politically mature friends. Most…
Stop trying to make football perfect: it’s the errors that make it fun
They’ve got this new thing in football. It’s called the Video Assistant Referee and it is designed to make the…
Ikea’s real genius is making furniture disposable
By all accounts, Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad was my kind of guy: may he rest in peace (on an Askvoll…
The real reason hospitals threw back that Presidents Club cash
I visited St Thomas’ Hospital on Monday, to discuss fundraising for a cardiology research project. On the way in, I…
The 300-year-old poem that perfectly sums up our drifting government
‘Dignity lost half its value yesterday’ began a news story in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph. As I read on, it turned…
The Tory drift goes on – but replacing May is impossible
‘We take the view that while things are bloody awful, we don’t want to risk making things worse.’ That is…
Women come last in Labour’s deranged victim hierarchy
I wonder if we are about to see a mass resignation of women from Labour, furious at the party’s collapse…
Nigel Farage is wrong: the French are doing us a big favour in Calais
Last week Nigel Farage described the deal we’ve done with France over the refugee camp near Calais as a ‘humiliating…
Forget a Channel bridge and celebrate Crossrail
This column has long been a sucker for a grand projet. ‘Time for a trip to Boris Island,’ I gushed…
UN ‘Peace-keepers’ abuse the girls in their care, yet no one is ever punished
Last week, women working for the UN became the latest to join the #MeToo gang, and for all the eye-rolling…
Why I won’t see The Darkest Hour
The BBC programme The Coronation, on Sunday evening, was extremely interesting, principally, of course, because of the Queen’s appearance on…
You can’t beat Corbyn with Miliband – but the Tories are trying to anyway
Tuition fees have all but killed the Liberal Democrats. The breach of their manifesto pledge to abolish the charges, compounded…
I recycle – then lie to myself that I’m saving the planet
‘I just want to say one word to you, just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.’ That iconic punch line…
Women’s pay could bankrupt the BBC
I hope you are enjoying the BBC drama series Hard Sun. It is described as pre-apocalyptic science fiction, set in…
How the Rat sniffed out £15,000 down the back of my virtual sofa
It must be about 25 years since the Rat first made an appearance in The Spectator. He started out as…
Outsourcing is a good thing, regardless of the Carillion crash
Carillion is a disaster on all fronts, but my sympathies go first to the fallen contracting giant’s sub–contractors. Upwards of…
Remembering Gavin Stamp, former architecture writer of The Spectator
Gavin Stamp, who died just before the year’s end, will be mourned by many Spectator readers. For years, particularly in…
The Cabinet reshuffle highlighted Theresa May’s three great weaknesses
‘They are not as strong as they thought they were,’ one Whitehall source remarked to me on Monday night as…
Your Twitter history will always haunt you – if you’re on the right
I once asked Michael Gove, when he had just been appointed Education Secretary, if he would mind awfully appointing me…
Victims of crime should not decide justice
Hard cases make bad law. The release on parole of the ‘black cab rapist’, John Worboys, is a hard case.…
For some girls, therapy does more harm than good
In the churchyard by the church near my grandmother’s house, there’s a tombstone with an inscription that’s haunted me since…
Michael Wolff said the US needed a market-charming president: now it has one
I once commissioned Michael Wolff —currently the world’s most talked-about journalist as the author of the White House exposé Fire…
Why cryptocurrency is the answer
The craze for cryptocurrency can be explained by a host of factors: the allure of getting rich quick; the attraction…
Nine reasons to be cheerful this year
Since it’s the first week of the New Year I’m going to pretend the bad stuff isn’t happening and focus…
